No noise. No nonsense. Just England.
Hosted by West Germany
England: Group stage
How England performed
England's qualifying campaign for the 1988 UEFA European Championship was close to flawless: five wins and a draw from six Group 4 fixtures, with 19 goals scored and only one conceded. Lineker scored five, including a hat-trick in an 8–0 win over Turkey, and the campaign ended with a 4–1 victory in Yugoslavia.
The finals in West Germany were a different story for Bobby Robson's side, captained by Bryan Robson. England lost their opening fixture 1–0 to the Republic of Ireland, who scored in the sixth minute, and were then beaten 3–1 by the Netherlands, for whom van Basten scored a hat-trick. A 3–1 defeat by the Soviet Union, in which Adams scored England's goal, completed a group-stage exit with three defeats from three matches, two goals scored and seven conceded. It repeated the group-stage finish of 1980.
England fixtures
England
3–0
Northern Ireland
England won
England: Lineker 33', Waddle 75', Lineker 80'
Northern Ireland: None
England
2–0
Yugoslavia
England won
England: Anderson 21', Mabbutt 56'
Yugoslavia: None
Northern Ireland
0–2
England
England won
England: Hodge 19', Waddle 43'
Northern Ireland: None
Turkey
0–0
England
England drew
England
8–0
Turkey
England won
England: Barnes 2', Lineker 8', Barnes 28', Lineker 43', Robson 59', Beardsley 62', Lineker 70', Webb 88'
Turkey: None
Yugoslavia
1–4
England
England won
England: Beardsley 3', Barnes 17', Robson 20', Adams 25'
Yugoslavia: Katanec 80'
England
0–1
Republic of Ireland
England lost
England: None
Republic of Ireland: Houghton 6'
England
1–3
Netherlands
England lost
England: Robson 53'
Netherlands: van Basten 44', van Basten 71', van Basten 75'
England
1–3
Soviet Union
England lost
England: Adams 16'
Soviet Union: Aleinikov 3', Mykhaylychenko 28', Pasulko 73'
England statistics
Full England squad
| No. | Player | Pos | Club | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Shilton | GK | Derby County | – |
| 2 | Gary Stevens | DF | Everton | – |
| 3 | Kenny Sansom | DF | Arsenal | – |
| 4 | Neil Webb | MF | Nottingham Forest | 1 |
| 5 | Dave Watson | DF | Everton | – |
| 6 | Tony Adams | DF | Arsenal | 2 |
| 7 | Bryan Robson C | MF | Manchester United | 3 |
| 8 | Trevor Steven | MF | Everton | – |
| 9 | Peter Beardsley | FW | Liverpool | 2 |
| 10 | Gary Lineker | FW | Barcelona | 5 |
| 11 | John Barnes | MF | Liverpool | 3 |
| 12 | Chris Waddle | MF | Tottenham Hotspur | 2 |
| 13 | Chris Woods | GK | Rangers | – |
| 14 | Viv Anderson | DF | Manchester United | 1 |
| 15 | Steve McMahon | MF | Liverpool | – |
| 16 | Peter Reid | MF | Everton | – |
| 17 | Glenn Hoddle | MF | Monaco | – |
| 18 | Mark Hateley | FW | Monaco | – |
| 19 | Mark Wright | DF | Derby County | – |
| 20 | Tony Dorigo | DF | Chelsea | – |
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